I've been

watching the presidential candidates with increasing

boredom, but Boy George may be showing some signs of

life.

For the

first time in recent memory, for instance, a Republican

candidate has come up with a good, ringing-sound-bite

answer to that ridiculous "risky tax scheme"

drum beat that the president - and now the president

of vice - keeps parroting.

"I'll

tell you what's risky," George W. Bush declared in a

speech I caught on CNN. "Leaving surplus tax funds

in Washington, D.C. - that's what's risky."

That's a

keeper, W. Come up with a few more of those and you'll

annihilate Gore in the debates.

You may be

picking up on the subtle suggestion in the above

paragraphs that I think it's going to be Gore versus

Bush. That's very astute of you.

Super

Tuesday was yesterday, but the results weren't known

until after our paper goes to press. By the time you read

this, I may be eating my words, but I really think it's

about over for McCain and Bradley, though I hope they'll

stick it out for the sake of keeping the debate going.

And

speaking of debate, let's hope any debates this year

include all the candidates, whether in a party primary or

in the General Election.

Libertarians

and candidates of other nontraditional parties should be

included, not necessarily for fairness' sake, but simply

for the additional point of view.

I don't

necessarily agree with some third party pundits that

Republicans and Democrats are cut from the same cloth,

but certainly the two mainstream parties have couched the

debate in the same terms for decades. Why not throw in

some people who will shake up the norm and challenge us

all to think outside the box?

We have way

too little debate in this country, and way too much

poll-taking. I think pollsters purposely seek out MTV

junkies who wouldn't know an income tax from an excise

tax to skew those polls.

I don't

think anyone should be allowed to be polled - or to

vote, for that matter - unless that person can

answer a few simple questions about the issues.

Pollster:

I'd like to ask your opinion on some issues, but first I

have to test your knowledge on those issues.

MTV-head:

I'm down.

Pollster:

I'm going to ask whether you think President Clinton

should be indicted, but first, what can you tell me about

the charges against him?

MTV-head:

He's accused of having sex in the White House, right?

That's a misdemeanor, right? The more you miss the meaner

you get?

Pollster:

Er, no. He's charged with lying under oath and using the

power of his office to intimidate witnesses.

MTV-head:

Well, I think that's his private life and those

Republicans should leave him alone.

Pollster:

I'd like to ask if you favor a middle class tax cut, but

first, can you tell me what segment of the population

pays the largest percentage of the nation's taxes: lower

class, middle class or upper class?

MTV-head:

Lower class, man. They put everything on the backs of the

poor.

Pollster:

Sorry. The top 10 percent of income earners pay almost 60

percent of the taxes. The top 50 percent of incomes are

tapped for over 95 percent of the taxes. The middle

income folks pay the rest. The poor don't pay any income

tax at all, and very little in other taxes, such as sales

taxes.

Let's face

it. People are getting more and more ignorant, and it's

reaching the point at which we may have to admit that the

concept of self government just isn't going to work for

the long haul.

As soon as

people found out they could use the election system to

vote benefits to themselves, they started thinking of the

government as provider and stopped relying on their own

energy, drive and ideas.

Self

government requires that we all take responsibility for

ourselves and for supervising our government.

We're

asleep at the switch, and if we don't wake up, soon the

train will have jumped the tracks and it'll be too late.

All of

which is simply to say that we need more debate. The

media and the name candidates shoulder out the

alternative groups because they want to simplify the

debate.

If we're

not careful, we're going to simplify our freedoms right

out of existence.